Hydraulic oil well packer



5W.,V| BALI: HYDRAULIC "OILwwELL PACKE'R" Filed Aug. *711,* .19:53

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Jg, 9, 1940."v

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ATTORNEY.

atendiendo@- j y 2,186,230

vHYDRAULIC OILVA WELL PACKER l i Warren L.`Bald,vLos Angeles, Calif. i

VApplication August 11,- 1938, Serial No. 221,230 1 Claim. (Cl. 166-'1) Y' i n The function of an oil well packer is to shut offy barrelf which `is closed at its lower -end by y; v the flow of fluid (such as uuid, mud or'water) flange base cap 6 1 longitudinally of the well at'the point selected."V Supported VWithinv the 'ange 0f the bese Cop The packer is so placed and constructed as 'tof` Yii is exparlfdine,SleevetitheY tor-0f the sleeve'bei cause it to firmly v'engagetm interior wall of the".l ing received Within the anged 'cuplike sleeve 6V well and to acti asia plug to shut off said flow of area'iof top capfl which surroundsbarrel '5 and' fluid from either below( or above the point at" iS fiiledtiheieolifbyrthe Set SCeWSfii 01 by'elriy 'jjV vwhich the packer was applied, depending upon other- Suitable mesi y the purpose for which the paokeriiouso ,Intermediate barrel 5 and the expanding :sleeve 0 It is common practice in oil Well drilling to 9 iS'a iight metallejsleeve ID and through the .10

keep the well hole filled with fluid-,mud or water Sleeve Vand ihebarrel toward the lower endofthe y duri-n the drilling operation period. vThis fluidl latter are fer'med ports-ll through which liquid;` exerts a characteristic pressure at all points infrom the'beli'ei may'fiOW'uiidel preSSllre t0 the side the well hole and outwardly against the wall V' interior *Ofi/he expanding Sleeve. i"he latter beingY 5 of thewell. By these mean vwhen thedril'lingV #normally slightly Speiee'd from the light'metaiuo .15 loperations projectl through strata; in which Sleeve l0 except @tits-top and base areas- These there is Oil, water or gas, .itse1f under high preslatter areas receive1 clamps I2- which preferably sure, the fluid pressure inside the well holepounefe surmountedbv. the fienged areas 0f `the Caps e teracts pressure of [the oil, water or gas and preo aud 7- The action of the Clamps tzrupon the' o ventsvit from seeping into the Well. The inter' expanding, Steeve is against a serrated' threaded 20 i ior-well pressure also resists collapse of thewfell or otherwlse Toughened -surteee of barrel 5 So Wan from Such exterior prossimo that the sleeve at the clamp points' maybe iirrnlyl By means of the present invention' various bonded thereto f Y Y o y problems not overcome by oilY well" packers o1'A The' fuuotiodot the borre-1 Stond nuto .ist to u i ,5 known construction are overcome as will be herecompress end ahold deuged peeking t3 between inafter Set forth. the barrel Sand plungerivshaft 2 and also over-I 'I'he invention will be described with reference the .shouldered'eud ofthe berfei- The @and out l to the accompanying drawing, in Aiwhicii'iv Y also' actsv as a. guide for the plunger shaft. The

Figure 1 iso longitudinal sectio showing Wen lower end ofY the plunger shaft has interiorly :o walls in dotted lines and an embodiment `of the threaded "on opertured plunger plug te'. below so invention within the -well 'and resting on the which tothreodedfm borrel 2 the-plunger head well shoulder; the embodiment being Shown in o t5' o' peeking to being pressed between the two" longitudinal section and partly broken away. The test emux tube 2o projects turougumem' Figure 21 is a view in elevation, partly broken bers to and t5 being surrounded by the peeking. o l5 away, showing the exterior of the said embodito and *extends* downwardly to bose .oep o toto ment, dotted lines showing the boundary linesV which it ts threaded' The tube oommumootes 0f the well and dotted lines showing the unexwith e duet at 5x in Cap 6. theductln turn companded'and expanded positions of the sealing muntoottng with perforated intake pipe ttwhioh 51e eve. Ais threaded or otherwisesecured .to base capiti l0 Figure 3 is a horizontal section on the line 3-3,. Dreidduet' to pes-ses Athrough eer' is 'being not Y o .Figure L Y 1v i mally closed bybaserrdrain plug I9.V f

'Figure 4 is a detailed view-'of an eared barrel Plonger 'shaft 2 et. its moerweu is. provided Y A sleeve adapted vfor use inthe assembly. t with o plunger stoort 'which ts aoertured to re. Referring to the drawing, I have indicated at CeWe emu? tube zo'. Y o L5 w the upper Well wall and at s themwell hole; i t Method of operation 'Y At the upper end ot the Structure is o' tubular In the position of the parts shown in the drawo nu Storo t formed Wlth e reduced threttoed end lng, the plunger is in the extreme upward end of upon which 1s recelved the upper threaded end its Stroke,A andv in this position the expanding of the plunger .shaft 2. Upon an eXteriOI 0f the sleeve 9 is retracted.- The device is lowered Vinto 50 plunger Shaft 1S a Sleeve nut 3 'iel'med .e baii'ei the Well by means of its drill stem which may be gland nut and threaded upon the saine is the formed of interconnected sections i'norder to barrel sleeve 4, the barrel sleeve being intersecure the necessary length. When the base of nally threaded at its opposite ends, the lower. the device reaches the well shoulder s or other i5 end of the barrel sleeve is threaded upon the `Ydesiredy point, it comes to a position of rest. I6

Thereupon the plunger shaft 2 actuated by the weight of the attached drill stem moves in a downward stroke, forcing fluid contained within the barrel (and indicated by transverse dotted line in the drawing) outwardly through the ports H, causing the outward expansion of the expanding sleeve 9 against the well wall. I The described mehod of operation is used, for example, when it is desired to remove fluid from below the device up into the drill stem and also the points above the stem for either "formation testing or for the removal of oil below the device by pumping or natural flow, the oil passing through the efflux tube 20.

When the device is to be utilized for a bottom packer, i. e., at the bottom or base of the well,

the perforated pipe I1 is replaced by a solid plug,

so that the base cap 6 will offer a solid face for seating on the base of the wall.

When there is no well shoulder base upon which the packer may be lowered, it is necessary to provide a means for stopping the packer body in its descent. i This may be accomplished by constructing the barrel sleeve 4 with a lug 2| formed with an eye through which a cable 22, leading upwardly, is' attached. As the packer Vis lowered into the Well by means of the drill stem, the cable is also paid out into the well at the same time. When the desired point to sealis reached, a strain is taken on the cable, which acts as a stop, holding the packer body from further descent. The drill stem and plunger shaft are allowed to descend further, causing the upward expansion of the sleeve to engage the Well Wall, as above described.

Method of removing packery from well raised the upwardly projected sections are successively unscrewed until the packer is out of the well.

The modified sleeve construction of Figure 4 In Figure 4 I have shown the sleeve 4 formed with ears 23 projected outwardly around the circircumference of the sleeve. These ears serve as a means of centering the packer as it is lowered into the well.

Construction of the sleeve In view of the fact that' the packer in many instances is required to function in contact with the oil, both as the expanding fluid Within the sleeve and oil exterior to the sleeve in the well. its is important to design the sleeve so that the surfaces in contact with oil are the material capable of `resisting deterioration by the solvent and/or chemical action of the oil. I therefore desire that the sleeve bev covered both interiorly and exteriorly with synthetic rubber. The core of the sleeve may be constructed of rubber ofv high tensile strength in order that it may resist expansion either transversely or longitudinally at thepoints where the sleeve expands outwardly in angular directions relatively to the barrel. The sleeve is given rigidity at its top and base by the caps 1 and. I2.

Where the actuating fluid in the packer and the outside well conditions are such that there is no deteriorating effect upon the rubber, the sleevemay/be constructed entirely of natural rubber, and a suitable synthetic and elastic rubber may be used throughout the sleeve when desired. If desired, the sleeve may be reinforced by fabric or strips of leather or other high strength material in order to withstand high hydraulic pressure, according to known practice in hose and automobile tire casings.

In some cases it may be desirable to thread onto the gland nut 3 a dirt cap or strainer housing 26 in which is disposed a wiping material or strainer 24, so that the plunger shaft 2 as it makes its descent is wiped free of any accumulation of dirt which might be carried into the barrel.

I am aware that in known packer constructions rubber sleeves have been employed and expansion has been effected outwardly by means of a tapered mandrel forced through the center of the sleeve. Inasmuch as the sealing must be effected at all times in an uncased well hole, regardless of roughness or out-of-ground condition of the hole, and the sealing must resist the pressure differential in a satisfactory manner, such known devices have been found unsatisfactory. By means of my invention, the expanding sleeve is expanded evenly, with uniform pressure at all points of the vwell wall, effecting a proper seal in all cases including those where the well hole is elliptical or rough, the expanding sleeve being forced to assume the shape of the well hole by the hydraulic principle with a pressure exerted on a fluid enclosed in a vessel transmitted equally to every part of that vessel, and the total pressure exerted on the interior of the vessel is equal to the area multiplied by\the pressure per unit of area.

Having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is as follows:

An oil` well packer comprising a barrel, a base fiange cap carried by the barrel at its lower end, an expansible bag-like sheath surrounding the barrel and fitted within the base flange cap, the interior of the sheath communicating with the interior of the'barrel, a second flange cap surrounding the sheath and into which the opposite ends of the sheath is fitted, means removably fixing the second cap to the barrel, a hollow plunger rod, a plunger head carried by the rod and projected within the barrel, a sleeve carried by the barrel at its upper end, an efllux tube passing through the plunger'head and communicating with a portformed in the base cap, an apertured plug surrounding the efflux tube and threaded in the hollow plunger rod to abut said last-named packing, and an expansible liquid within the barrel below the plunger head.

WARREN L. BALD. 

